Cake-a-palooza

Well I’ve been baking a lot lately alright, but I haven’t really been experimenting much (unless design counts).  The last couple of weekends I’ve been cranking out cakes, for a birthday, Father’s Day, and a baby shower.

This is the baby shower cake, the bottom tier was vanilla cake with cheesecake filling and vanilla buttercream, and the top tier was a chocolate cake (so good) with a cheesecake filling and vanilla buttercream. Both were covered with fondant and decorations and bow are fondant as well. I wanted to post the recipe for the chocolate cake for you guys because it is the best I have ever found. It is so moist and rich try it and you will love it!

I really love playing with fondant and seeing what I can do with it. I also love eating cake so this is such a perfect hobby. Lately I’ve been working on flowers, roses, carnations, calla lilies, and daisies. And apparently zebra prints too.

I found this recipe on Cake Central, a place I frequent often for inspiration for cake design. I can’t tell you enough how glad I am I found this recipe. It will be my go to chocolate cake recipe. 

Orange and Raspberry Mini Cupcakes

This recipe is inspired by an orange and raspberry cake that Giada De Laurentiis does. She uses a cake mix which would be a great shortcut if you need a quick cake, but I can’t help feel like I’m cheating. Box cake mixes have come a long way though, the complaint used to be a slight fake taste which I believe is caused by the preservatives in the mix, but now days it’s barely noticeable. But me personally, I would like to say it’s from scratch. So I used the same flavor combo, but totally changed the recipe. 

So what do you guys think, box mixes vs. from scratch?? 

These little guys pack a sharp citrus flavor which is rounded out nicely by the raspberry filling and frosting. I chose to do mini cupcakes because they are so easy to just grab and pop in your mouth, but if you need a sit down dessert feel free to make it in regular cupcake or cake form. These are light and fresh and fit in well at a summer BBQ. 

Vanilla Bean Mascarpone Cheesecake with a Cashew Crust and Passion Fruit Caramel

(I have to apologize for the bad photo, I took this cheesecake

to a BBQ before taking any pictures and only had this meager

paper plate to work with, plus I only have a point and shoot camera.)

I have been craving cheesecake and I know the richness of mascarpone would definitely put it over the top.  We've all had that slice of cheesecake that is just a little too tart. In fact, for the longest time I didn't even think I liked cheesecake after getting too many just that way. If you haven’t tried mascarpone cheese yet, try it, it’s amazing. It’s the same consistency of cream cheese, but tastes like fresh cream, it’s so rich, and no tartness, so I knew I wanted to include it in my next cheesecake. To add to that, I’ve decided that my new favorite frosting is Cupcake Project’s, Vanilla Bean Buttercream, it tastes like melted vanilla ice cream, and you really could just eat it right of the spoon. So I thought I’d try a Vanilla Bean Cheesecake, hoping for the same result. In searching for a recipe I happened upon a new blog that I now frequent, Spache the Spatula, I found this delicious recipe there, which she adapted from Epicurious. If you’d like to see a better photo of this cheesecake, head over to her blog, she has beautiful photography. This recipe is a re-print from her blog.

This cheesecake is amazing.  It's so creamy and smooth, and that little spice in the crust is just perfect.  I think this would be a great base for all cheesecakes.  The passion fruit caramel took a little longer to caramelize for me, but it was so worth it.  You can taste a hint of tartness from the topical fruit.  My mom, who was over while I was baking, enjoyed liking the bowl she thought it was so good.  Happy baking guys.